By 2100, carbon from human activities could push the world into an “unknown territory” and a mass extinction could then occur, according to a news release by the university. But it might take 10,000 years after that threshold is reached for the disaster to occur.

“This is not saying that disaster occurs the next day,” Rothman told MIT News. “It’s saying that, if left unchecked, the carbon cycle would move into a realm which would be no longer stable."